Darin St. George: Working out when pressed for time

What I would like to do now is help you understand what you can do when you're crunched for time and need to grab a good workout.

Darin St. George

How time flies when you are having fun.

Lately I have loved the time I spend with my family and have taken as many as one day off in a row to spend with Andrea Jean, Taylor Rose and Emily Hope for what my parents never clued me in on: family fun.

What I would like to do now is help you understand what you can do when you're crunched for time and need to grab a good workout.

Start big and work your tail off. I love mixing and matching exercises that will get your heart rate up and jack up your largest muscles at the same time. Load up a bench press with a weight you can handle comfortably, drop a heavy dumbbell next to it, and buckle up! First up, start bench pressing; aim for 20 reps, even though you want to stop at 15. Next, do the same amount of dumbbell rows (each arm), using the bench for support. Before you take a break, bang out a set of 30 squats holding the dumbbell with two hands. Twice through will do the trick; mind you, this is just the beginning.

Grab a set of dumbbells and don't let go. Holding a pair of 8- to 20-pound weights, start off with 20 side raises; followed by 20 curls; followed by 20 front raises; and finish up with 20 shoulder presses. That's 80 reps straight, and you'll be dying at the end. Have no fear, I will offer you another go-through with this torture. This will have you sweating your tail off, so grab some stretches for the shoulders and biceps and a drink before you do your second set.

Try a little help in the home stretch. Most clubs have a machine that counter-balances your weight to help if you can't perform pullups or parallel bar dips on your own. Find this machine and knock out pullups, dips and round out the superset with 20 stationary lunges on each side. Rinse, stretch and repeat one more time.

It doesn't hit every single muscle directly, but it will get you in and out, and satisfy your need for speed. Try the workout and find out just what I mean.

Darin St. George is a personal fitness coach at Gold's Gym in Natick, Mass. Visit his Web site at www.myspace.com/darinstgeorge.